Muslim Barack Obama fans told to hide from television cameras

Barack Obama's campaign has been forced to apologise to two Muslim women
barred from sitting behind him at a public event.

About one in eight Americans falsely believes Mr Obama is MuslimPhoto: AP

By Tim Shipman in Washington

7:01PM BST 18 Jun 2008

The two women in headscarves were asked not to sit in view of cameras at a rally in Detroit on Monday, where Al Gore endorsed Mr Obama.

Hebba Aref, a 25-year-old lawyer, told Politico magazine: "I was coming to support him, and I felt like I was discriminated against.

"The message that I thought was delivered to us was that they do not want him associated with Muslims or Muslim supporters."

Miss Aref's friend Ali Koussan, a law student, said that a volunteer "explained to me that because of the political climate and what's going on in the world ... it's not good for her to be seen on TV or associated with Obama."

A second woman was told to take off her headscarf if she wanted to sit in the special seats.

Polls show that around one in eight Americans falsely believe that Mr Obama is Muslim.

Campaign spokesman Bill Burton said: "This is of course not the policy of the campaign. It is offensive and counter to Obama's commitment to bring Americans together and simply not the kind of campaign we run.

"We sincerely apologise for the behaviour of these volunteers."

But the incident highlights the degree to which Mr Obama's campaign is concerned with traditional political image making, something his promise to change American politics claims to eschew.

While he grew up and was schooled in Indonesia, a Muslim nation, Mr Obama's campaign has repeatedly denied that he was ever a Muslim.

Until he resigned over the furore surrounding his former's pastor's comments, Mr Obama has worshipped for more than 20 years at the same Chicago church.